Burton win in front of a big home crowd

Some might say that the Wanderers might have taken their eye of the ball with the play off spot secured, but truth be told, Burton played very well.

Burton were buoyed by a big home crowd with a pig roast and junior matches on the main pitch before and after the first team game. The Burton players wanted to end their home season on a high and rose to the occasion.

The match started in good conditions conducive to flowing rugby, but the tone was to be set when Burton kicked off and the Wanderers were unable to catch the kick off and as a result were on the back foot straight away.

Burton were physical and direct in the pack and well supported with some strong running and elusive backs.

It has to be commended that the Wanderers defence was working over time and showed the heart and determination they had all season to protect their try line. Burton opened the scoring with a penalty, and then soon after scored a well worked try giving them a 10 point lead.

Worcester had not been in the Burton half, but they regrouped and became more competitive in all areas but, errors curtailed several promising phases of play.

However, a well worked try was scored from a dynamic line out that resulted in an unconverted push over try by Simon James, 10 points to 5 Burton at half time.

The Wanderers responded very impressively with a score coming very early on in the second half when a superb pass from Jake Saddington found Chris Griffith who ran in the try, converted by Tom Biggs, to give the Wanderers the lead.

Play moved around the pitch with both teams trying to play attacking rugby.

The Wanderers were next to score with Biggs sending out a 20 metre pass to Chris Jenkinson who ran it in to make the score 19-12 with the conversion by Biggs.

Unfortunately, this was to be the last time the Wanderers threatened as Burton had territorial and possession advantage throughout the last quarter of the game.

The late scores by Burton probably skewed the score line a little, but Burton had earned their win.

Both teams were applauded by the crowd as they came off the pitch in recognition of what a good game it had been in terms of effort, application and sportsmanship.

The Wanderers now focus on the upcoming play off game next weekend at Weston Fields kick off 3pm.

A win would see the Wanderers promoted to National 3 Midlands and cap of a wonderful season!

Niall Crawford
WWRFC Coach